lemonhead press

March 15, 2014


lemonhead presslemonhead pressMeet Lemonhead Press. Katie, the lady behind the shop, was listening to the radio and the band Lemon Jelly, and the name kind of stuck. Thus, when it was time to name her shop, Lemonhead popped in her head and there you go! For Katie, she wanted to be a stay home mom, but at the same time wanted to find a way to contribute to her family doing something she loves, and out was born Lemonhead Press. Her shop is full of cute and quirky cards and prints, pretty paper straws, and gorgeously simple dream catchers. I remember when I used to have my online shop and I so appreciated the support everyone gave me, and I’m glad to share about another fellow mama following her dream.

Her online shop allows her to contribute to the finances of the family, but also allows her work to easily move with her as her and her family to travel the U.S. in their converted bus! Katie and her husband bought an old school bus and are converting that into a home. They aren’t sure where they want to settle, so they will have their traveling home for now, until they find just the right place. Read about their decision here. I have been following along on her blog and the transformation and work that goes into making a bus a home is so amazing. They have removed the seats and are now working on raising the roof (I didn’t know you could do that!) to give them more space. I am totally intrigued by their whole process. Here is a video below of the raising the roof process…

I can’t wait to continue following along on their journey. This is some of their bus inspiration, so I can’t wait to see how they transform this bus. Doesn’t this sound totally interesting to you too?! We are thankful for Ben’s stable job and a home, but sometimes we wish we could just up and leave and be more adventurous (or have the freedom to move to another state), but we’ve got a house we are tied to (and thankful for), so that’s not realistic for us right now, but you never know, right?! It’s fun to live vicariously through someone else’s adventures and that’s the reason why I love following Katie’s adventure.


focus: happy it’s friday

March 14, 2014


School-wise this week we were totally on the ball, so much so, that today’s a lighter day filled with studying the desert and doing some art projects. House-wise, I feel like everything is a little bit messier than normal. Sanity-wise, I’m yelling by the time 7:30 rolls around. It’s probably partially because Ben’s worked 3 late days this week, but man oh man, I’m cranky once that sun goes down. Could it be that I’m a mom-werewolf?! All in all, we’re still good over here.

Today’s Friday, that means it’s clean-up day, True will do her weekly baking, and we will have family movie and cuddle time at night. Then, the girls will go off to bed, and Ben and I get our alone time (with our favorite ceviche). It’s nothing fancy, but those simple things are what make our Fridays so great.

My brain is frozen and I’ve got no more words left, but enjoy your Friday!


plant picking with just the littlest ones

March 13, 2014


plant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingplant huntingThe two big girls went and had their first kid sleepover with some kids from our church family, so after church one Sunday, we bid them farewell, and it was just Ben, me, and the two littlest. I know it’s hard when you have your first kid, and it’s hard to figure out the juggling when you add your second one, but after being a mom to 4 for a couple of years now, when it’s just two (no matter the combo), it is so much easier! Since our car load was lighter, Ben and I took the girls to a local nursery to pick out more plants (yes, more!). Ben was in search of a peach tree and I was looking for more indoor plants.

Glow and Soul were all about exploring up and down the aisles, and fighting about who gets to push/pull the wagon. It is so interesting when True and Brave aren’t around because you really see the big sister come out of Soul. She’s the one showing Glow the ropes and doing all the bossy-ing around. Soul also desperately misses Brave and True when they aren’t here, and will constantly inquire about their return. I think it’s so ironic because when they’re here, she is always fighting with them, especially with Brave. As much as they were missed, I’m glad my biggest girls were able to go on their first sleepover, and they came home with stories about how much fun they had!

on me: dress, handmade (see here). shoes, lotta from stockholm. bag, humble hilo. on true: dress and shoes, old navy. scarf, made by her friend. on brave: shirt, misha lulu. pants, frankie and sue. shoes, gap kids. scarf, made by her friend. on soul: dress, vintage. shirt, c/o panache box. leggings, aa. shoes, totally hand me downs. on glow: dress, vintage. shoes, c/o old navy.

 


mandarins for days

March 12, 2014


gardengardengardengardenOkay, it really lasted barely a week (instagrammed here), but they were all thoroughly enjoyed. Ben picked out some really good varieties (Tango and Kishu) to grow in the garden. They were seriously some of the best mandarins I have ever had. They had just perfect amount of sweetness and tang. Ben said they were like candy to him… so deliciously sour and sweet! I’m not typically a citrus person because I hate peeling the skin, but for these, I made an exception because they were so easy to peel and they were just so good that I couldn’t resist.

We have had the citrus trees for several months now, but since we are doing an almost complete overhaul of the placement of things in our yard, our citrus trees have just been growing in pots. We will be transplanting them to their more permanent location into some of our corten steel beds in about a month or so, and I can’t wait to get those settled in. Actually, I just can’t wait to be done with garden projects and enjoy the fruits of our labor, but those projects are really never-ending. Anyone else feel that way about their backyard?


in print!

March 11, 2014


mollie makes mamamollie makes mamaI’m always honored to be in print and this time you can find my A-frame tent the newest issue of Mollie Makes Mama (along with other great thinks from other mamas). I’ve seen them over at Barnes & Noble, but I also just ordered my copy online here. It’s a really great issue full of inspiration and lots of eye candy! I’m thankful to be able to contribute to it.


maybe one part creepy, one part cool

March 11, 2014


I've got my eyes on youI pinned this image awhile back, which led me to painting on some linen fabric. Of course, I had to turn that fabric into a dress. I’m way into shift dresses, I think it’s the silhouette that works well for me. Plus, it is really easy to sew!

I've got my eyes on youI've got my eyes on youI've got my eyes on youI've got my eyes on youWhen I finished up my dress a few weeks ago, I texted the BFF and she hates clusters, so she got goosebumps looking at the picture of the dress. She wasn’t a fan. HA! When I was making it, I was thinking it could possibly turn out really great or really dumb. When all was said and done, I think it came out great. It is a little bit creepy, but also a little funky. I think funky is good, so I’ll take it.

Fabric paint does dry up a little raised, so it doesn’t look like printed fabric, it looks like it was painted on. I like handmade, so it doesn’t bother me one bit. You want to make sure to allow the fabric paint to dry completely, then you want to heat set it by ironing the fabric once it is totally dry. When you iron, make sure to place a scrap fabric on top just in case some of that fabric paint still melts off onto the iron.

As far as sewing goes, I didn’t use a pattern, but a shift dress I had that fit me well, and based this off of that. That’s my favorite way to make clothes. I like to use the pattern off of something I already own, study it, and use that as the base to cut and sew my fabric. Don’t be afraid to experiment, and you can also learn from mistakes! I didn’t include any darts in this dress because I didn’t want to mess up the eye pattern, but darts aren’t that difficult to do either! I tell you, if you can sew a straight line, anything is possible! Seriously. Don’t be intimidated.

This dress gets me in the mood to sing Drake’s “I’ve got my eyes on you, you’re everything that I see, I want your hot love and emotion endlessly…” Sorry, if I got that song stuck in your head now! “Cause you’re a good girl and you know it…”

P.S. The girls over at A Beautiful Mess just released some photoshop actions, which I played around with for these pictures. I used Imogene from the Folk Collection, and I thought it was fun to add a little bit of sun flare and double exposure.


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